After securing exclusive media rights for BCCI International and Domestic Matches, Viacom18 has announced its plans for the three-ODI series between India and Australia starting September 22.
The first international series in the rights cycle will be presented on JioCinema in 11 languages for free. On linear/ offline TV, the series will be aired live on Colors Tamil (Tamil), Colors Bangla Cinema (Bengali), Colors Kannada Cinema (Kannada), Colors Cineplex Superhits (Hindi), Sports18 – 1 SD, Sports18 – 1 HD (English).
The series is of great significance for both sides as they will look to find momentum leading up to the 50-over World Cup. The expert panel for the series across languages will include Suresh Raina, Kedar Jadhav, Aakash Chopra, Nikhil Chopra, Amit Mishra, Anirudha Srikkanth, Abhinav Mukund, Hanuma Vihari, Venkatpathy Raju, Sarandeep Singh, Reetinder Singh Sodhi, Rahul Sharma, VRV Singh, Kiran More, Sheldon Jackson, Bhargav Bhatt, Jatin Paranjpe, Shreevats Goswami, VA Jagadeesh among others.
After shattering all records, and establishing unprecedented levels of engagement, viewership, and concurrency during the IPL 2023, JioCinema will offer viewers their favourite sport in a never-seen-before presentation for free. Viewers will be able to watch the limited-overs action in English, Hindi, Marathi, Gujarati, Bengali, Bhojpuri, Punjabi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, and Malayalam.
“The 3-match ODI series between India and Australia will give viewers a peek into inarguably the new home of Indian cricket and with that responsibility, we will continue to bring the paradigm shift in the way sports is consumed,” said Viacom18 – Sports CEO Anil Jayaraj.
“It is our constant endeavour to offer fans what they love the most in never-seen-before ways and digital allows us to continuously push the envelope and combined with linear/ offline TV, we will deliver BCCI events on an unparalleled scale,” he added.
On August 31, Viacom18 won both the television and digital rights for the domestic and international matches to be played in India for the next five years (2023-28). It won the digital rights for Rs 3,101 crore and television rights for Rs 2,862 crore, a total amount of Rs 5,963 crore.
This broadcast cycle, extending from September 2023 to March 2028, has 88 bilateral matches (could go up to 102 matches) involving India. It can be broken down into 25 Tests, 27 ODIs and 36 T20Is.
Apart from the rights for BCCI matches, Viacom18 has a vast portfolio of media rights for worldwide sports events like IPL, WPL, Moto GP, La Liga, Major League Cricket (MLC), NBA, Serie A among many others.
In the past, JioCinema has been streaming its sporting content, including the FIFA World Cup in 2022 and the IPL 2023, for free.
